Tears of a Fallen Blossom
by MakiZanaX13
Summary: Wakamiya Tsubaki, a young teen with a rough childhood. And being the foster daughter of Kageyama Reiji isn't a great bonus either, especially if he'd enrolled her into the prestigious Teikoku Academy as a boy. How can life get any worse when Tsubaki was ordered to attend a certain rival school? The wheels of destiny sure have one ugly sense of humour. Cover art by Card-Queen.
1. When the Petals Fall

**Maki:** Hello everyone! Err sorry for not notifying anyone but I felt like a revision was in order thus I made a revised version of Tears of a Fallen Blossom since it needed a few adjustments. Again I apologize. Anyhow since this has been re-done so has this chapter. Though compared to the original version this mainly focuses on introducing my main and supporting OCs so canon characters won't make their official debut until the next chapter or so save for one character at the very end. Hope you enjoy!

**WARNINGS:** Alternate Universe, Non-Canon, OCs, OOCness, Mild violence, cursing and dark themes. Don't like? Don't read!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inazuma Eleven. All rights are the property of Level-5 and Akihiro Hino. I only own my OCs and the plot.

**Summary:** Wakamiya Tsubaki, a young teen with a rough childhood. And being the foster daughter of Kageyama Reiji isn't a great bonus either, especially if he'd enrolled her into the prestigious Teikoku Academy as a boy. How can life get any worse when Tsubaki was ordered to attend a certain rival school? The wheels of destiny sure have one ugly sense of humour.

* * *

**Tears of a Fallen Blossom: Revised**

**Chapter 1: When the Petals Fall**

"The human race tends to remember the abuses to which it has been subjected rather than the endearments. What's left of kisses? Wounds, however, leave scars." – Bertolt Brecht

Wakamiya Tsubaki was a girl who had little hope in life.

Born to an abusive Japanese father and an ignorant American mother pretty much summed it up. Not to mention growing up with a chronic disease doubled the pain.

Throughout the duration in elementary school, she was subjected to bullying as well. It slowly severed the connection between her and society. Until one person stepped in to change it all.

Ichinose Kazuya. Tsubaki recalled that name at the top of her head from the time she met him and his group of friends – Kino Aki, Domon Asuka and Nishigaki Mamoru. Due to her situation, she was hesitant on joining the circle.

With enough encouragement expressed by everyone, she gave up. Much to her amazement they were very kind compared to the kids at school. They even accepted Tsubaki as their new friend.

That was the initial stage of her entering the soccer world.

She also gained a close relationship with Ichinose since he was the first friend she'd ever had. Heck, Tsubaki changed the way of calling him by his surname and used his actual name instead which was clearly understandable.

One day Tsubaki's father returned home after getting into an argument with his boss about indecent behaviour at work soon turning to a squabble among him and her mother. It went on till Tsubaki decided to check on it. Her father then took it out on her in spite of her mother's protest.

In mere seconds a fire started that went unnoticeable earlier before a neighbour realised it and called the police. Civilians were ordered to evacuate the premises if the fire were to expand the surrounding area.

Fortunately the victims were rescued and Tsubaki and her mother were hospitalised upon arrival. Police charged her father on counts of abuse, arson and indecent behaviour but they couldn't arrest him as his body dispersed in the midst of the incident thus presumed dead. Tsubaki survived the incident with aggravating injuries then again they were able to heal when she was discharged from the hospital. Her mother survived too but with minor injuries compared to hers.

It took time yet they eventually rekindled their relationship as mother and daughter; having a happier life without her father anymore and the bullying reduced. Sadly that happiness was short-lived when her mother suggested moving to Japan.

She was interested that they were going there as she wanted to learn more of her father's homeland as the latter never talked of it. However another part of Tsubaki told her not to because it meant she'll have to leave her friends.

In the end she went to Japan alongside her mother, bidding everyone a tearful farewell. That was when tragedy struck – nearing the final stretch of the flight, the chief pilot somehow lost control of the plane shortly making a crash land in a suburban area in the Kanto region. A number of lives, including her mother's, were lost in the crash which earned Tsubaki a permanent scar on her left wrist.

As it had assumed she had no other living relatives, she was proclaimed an orphan and was sent to an orphanage. The crash caused Tsubaki to isolate herself once again.

It was hard living in an orphanage, now that she had lost the only living relative she had left. She constantly avoided the other children all the time to seek refuge were she can be alone. That was when he came in.

Parallel pale skin, red hair, teal eyes… he was in ways totally different to Ichinose in both appearance and personality. Nonetheless something inside jolted Tsubaki awake at the comprehension that he was attempting to be friends with her.

Remembering what originally happened with Ichinose, she allowed him to break down her barriers and the two became friends as they had mutual feelings to an all too familiar sport – soccer.

Forlornly their increasing bond didn't last long as a certain somebody walked into their lives, specifically Tsubaki's. Kageyama Reiji. The eerie aura masking that man reminded her of her missing father.

He had kept an eye on Tsubaki during her time in the orphanage for a while and grew an interest in her. Like a bombshell Kageyama requested her adoption out of the blue. Of all people, why did he pick her? Tsubaki was really reluctant on leaving the orphanage as she didn't want to forget her new friend.

It was a losing battle therefore she ultimately followed Kageyama, who welcomed her with open arms.

Who would've thought that this will be the exact same man to turn her life upside down; for better or worse?

* * *

Early afternoon sunlight shined brightly in the vast sky above the populated town beneath it. Somewhere in the said town, a mansion dwelled. Akin to most of its kind, it was fairly large in contrast to the cluster of the local houses in the area you would normally see every day.

In the mansion a young woman sauntered in the foyer fixing whatever she found out of place. She had fair skin, shoulder length reddish-violet hair that's slightly spiked at the end and teal eyes wearing a white buttoned blouse, a long-sleeved light grey jacket, dark denim jeans and black high heels. As she situated the flower vase on the table together, her fingers gently brushed a white petal. It's gorgeous aroma infiltrated her nostrils; lips curving into a tiny smile that quickly disappeared.

The aroma educed her attention to why she came to work here. It was roughly three years ago that she was working as a tutor seeking to help any teenager who needed assistance. By a stroke of luck she got called to this mansion where she met the one who asked for her – Kageyama Reiji. At first glance he seemed to be intimidating and ready to do something illegal. Kageyama reassured her that he wasn't that type of person then went to introduced her to his protégé. The child he'd sought her to teach.

"Eri?" startled, the woman hastily swivels to see someone who entered the foyer – a girl who was about 14-years-old with pale skin, shoulder blade length dark lavender hair accompanied by cerulean highlights and amethyst eyes.

"Tsubaki?! Uh I was I was… fixing the mansion, that's all," answered the woman now identified as Eri. Her jade-hued eyes scanned the younger girl up and down, noticing she was covered in dirt and blemishes. "Don't tell me, practicing again?"

She rubbed the back of her neck subconsciously. "Yeah. I'm going for a shower then take a walk in town. If otou-sama wonders where I am, tell him I will be out."

"Make sure to return on time."

"I know." Eri sighed when she watch the girl bolt up the stairs to the shower. Kageyama informed her that Tsubaki wasn't very talkative and often distance herself away from people. Eri enquired the other if her personality was related to her past. He responded saying it wasn't her business to peek into her student's personal details. She snorted.

What an infuriating man.

* * *

"Kenta! I told you already to keep an eye on it!"

"It wasn't my fault that I was the one who'd had it in the first place."

"Are you implying that I lost it?!"

"Technically, yes I am."

"Oh that's perfect!"

Bystanders had mixed feelings between amusement and annoyance as they witnessed the two teenagers that have been arguing the last five minutes. The first teen was female who had fair skin, long waist-length turquoise hair and hazel eyes. Her attire consisted of a Persian rose headband, a light vermillion and white tunic, a blue and silver beaded bracelet on the right wrist, faded pink denim jeans and enclosed low-heeled brown sandals.

The second teen was male, precisely a year younger than the other with tanned skin, brown hair tied in a low ponytail and dark brown eyes. He wore a yellow collared shirt, a royal blue sweatshirt with rolled up sleeves, grey trousers and light blue trainers. Physically he looked tall for his age so some might have mistaken them for a couple.

It was quite humorous on how it occurred – they headed to a local arcade like most teens do nowadays. They stayed till leaving became part of the problem. The girl was meant to pay with her money at the counter when she came to the realisation she lost her wallet.

"If you aren't paying up front I can easily call the police." The clerk pointed out. That sparked the panic alarm.

"Kenta, do something! You're a detective aren't you?" the girl cried. He pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly.

"Calm down, Masami. I'm thinking and to your question, no, I'm studying to be one."

"Mou! How am I gonna explain this to okaa-san? She'll freak out if she caught wind of this!"

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The sliding glass doors swished open as Tsubaki walked in the arcade at the equivalent time when Masami and Kenta's argument escalated; though her appearance was different – her hair was shorter and spikier tied in a low right ponytail by a red and white beaded hair tie whereas her chest was bound by a set of constriction bandages under a black and white striped shirt. Her lower left arm was concealed by an additional set of bandages that had an added blue wrist band. To finish she had a pair of torn denim shorts and black trainers.

She was confused at first on what was happening but understood as a result of the gossiping that resonated in the building. A few girls in the crowd noticed her presence and giggled when they made contact, whispering something on the lines "Who is he?" or "He is cute." The reason behind this was Tsubaki is actually disguised as a boy at the current moment; she wasn't comfortable wearing girls' clothing was by becoming a boy. She brushed off the comments then wondered to the assembled machines further away to the main crowd.

Next a glistening light at the bottom of one of the machines was spotted by the corner of her eye. Curiously she kneels on the floor and gawked, it was a rabbit-shaped key chain attached to a pink and red wallet. Picking up the wallet she scanned to discover a name was imprinted on it.

"Dan… Masami?" she whipped her head in the direction of the crowd where the boy in the centre is trying to prevent the blunette girl from growing frantic. _This must belong to her._ Tsubaki stood then manoeuvred in the crowd towards the two teens. "Excuse me."

They blinked at her in confusion. "Eh?"

"I said excuse me, do you own this wallet?" she shoved the object to the girl.

She gasped. "H-Hai, it's mine. Thank you very much!"

"It's alright. Don't lose it again."

"I won't!"

"Ano, what's your name?" the boy asked.

"Wakamiya-"

"Someone help! It's a thief!" a high-pitched voice shrieked. Everyone who heard jumped as someone zipped pass them in possession of a bag slung over his shoulder and a gun.

"That man's got a gun!" a guy in the crowd exclaimed. Acting on instincts, she darted after the man that fled out of the arcade. As she went into the streets, the man was already halfway down the street shoving people aside as he continued running.

She looked around to find anything that can stop him when she got her target; a group of teenagers possibly in their high school year and one held a soccer ball under his arm. He was tall with light skin, wild black hair and blue eyes wearing a sleeveless denim jacket over a forest green shirt, a plain chain necklace, fingerless amber wrist gloves, camouflage shorts and black combat boots.

Tsubaki ran to the group and took the ball off the older teen. "I'm taking this."

"O-Oi!" the other protested. Right until he could catch up, she leapt in to the air prior kicking the ball at the man which cuffed him at the back of his head and sent him sprawling to the ground. His hand released the bag that opened, showing the amount of money in it. The teen who owned the ball was not pleased when he made it.

"Hey! What was that for?!" he demanded.

"I was trying to stop someone from causing any chaos," she jerked thumb at the unconscious man. He raised an eyebrow prior until walking to the man, his jaw dropped as if he recognised the man.

"Takizawa!" one of the teen's friends called from a distance. The Takizawa guy turned to Tsubaki with a suspicious look.

"What's your name?"

"Tsukumo. Wakamiya Tsukumo, that's my name."

"Well, Wakamiya. Did you know the man you just knocked out there is a bank robber that recently escaped jail?" the latter blinked owlishly.

"Huh?"

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Takizawa Hisao, son of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Superintendent-General."

"You're the son of _the_ Takizawa Ichirou? But you don't-"

He rubbed his head sheepishly. "Yeah, most people are like that at first as I appear as more of a rebel but I'm really not."

"I see. If you're done, I'll go now." She said.

"Sure, go ahead. I will have the police handle this man." Takizawa frowned as she left. _That shoot, it wasn't an ordinary one. The strength of the kick he'd put into it was definitely strong and perhaps may be at the same level as Teikoku Academy. Heh, that kid is certainly something I might have to look out for._

* * *

Later that night once she had dinner, Tsubaki went to her room to notice two set of uniforms resting on her bed adjacent to each other. The first uniform was comprised of a long-sleeved black blouse sported by a collar, shoulder pads and folded shirt cuffs all in a crimson hue. The blouse itself was overlapped escorted by a gold outline that also surrounded the collar and cuffs; there was even a gold cord that was linked from the right shoulder pad to the upper torso under the second layer. Completing the uniform was a matching pair of black pants and brown shoes.

The secondary uniform was different to the first – it had a dark green jersey with a red stripe on both shoulders, an insignia on the left side that had the starter character for the kanji translation of "Teikoku", brown shorts, white knee highs and purple sneakers. Tsubaki breathed at the sight of them.

"This is…"

"Your new uniform." A deep and gruff voice stated. She spun around to face a man at her door wearing a pair of shades and a purple suit with long grey hair in a low left ponytail. "Starting tomorrow, you will be attending as a male student at Teikoku Academy as my son. I thought it be beneficial for you as you're not used to girl clothing. Also I instated you as a member of the soccer club under my command. I can't tolerate any objections. Understood?"

"… Hai, otou-sama."

Just what did her father get her into anyways?


	2. The Presitigous Academy

**Maki:** Hi all, sorry for the late update but here's chapter 2. Just a reminder that this chapter and future ones similar to this will be longer than the last chapter due to the fact of a soccer match being inputted. Other than that, please enjoy!

**WARNINGS:** Alternate Universe, Non-Canon, OCs, OOCness, Mild violence, cursing and dark themes. Don't like? Don't read!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inazuma Eleven. All rights are the property of Level-5 and Akihiro Hino. I only own my OCs and the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Prestigious Academy**

Morning came quicker than expected. Tsubaki woke up at the first sign of light in her room and began to prepare herself for a day at her new school which went by the name of Teikoku Academy. Teikoku was renowned around the Kanto Region of Japan for its Soccer and has been dominating the sport for forty years since their victory over Raimon, the only school ever considered to be an equal rival. After Raimon disappeared due to a vague incident, Teikoku was winning every match they were situated in and came out with zero losses.

When the usual routine was completed, Tsubaki was heading to the limousine in her disguise. She never liked riding in such a vehicle however her father insisted it was a better mode of transport instead of walking or catching public ones. Eri stopped her the second she was about to go in.

"Tsubaki, are you certain about this? There are plenty of other choices-"

"Eri you know as I do that I've was home-schooled for two years. We all need a change sometimes. I'm okay with it." She said.

"This is Teikoku Academy for crying out loud! If you-"

"I would listen to her if I were you." Kageyama cut her off; he sat in the seat opposite of Tsubaki's one. Eri scowled at him.

"Look, if anything happens to her while she's at Teikoku…"

"Don't worry. I can assure you nothing of the sort will occur."

"You better."

"Eri! It will be fine, trust me." She shuddered when Tsubaki raised her voice. The latter may be quiet most of the time though does have a habit of getting angry and it wasn't really pretty.

Eri sighed in defeat. "You win. Please tell me you will stay out of trouble."

"I won't."

_Thank kami-sama she still listens to me._ She bowed. "Have a safe trip."

"Yeah, I will." The door was shut and the window rolled up before Kageyama ordered the chauffeur to drive; the engine started then the limousine drove off.

* * *

Tsubaki's stomach churned with apprehension when they arrived at the academy. As soon as she glanced at the academy's exterior, her eyes widen – it was huge! No wonder its reputation came from high circumstances.

"What do you think?" Kageyama asked.

"You're kidding me? It strikes me as if I was being shipped to the military." Tsubaki answered.

"Then I will drop you off here; I have somewhere else to go first."

"Alright," the chauffeur got out and went to the back where he opened Tsubaki's door. She stepped out. "See you soon."

"Yeah."

The limousine left. Tsubaki strolled towards the academy where she continued to gaze in awe. Conversely the building's height structure made her eyes spin. She stumbled until feeling a pair of hands gripping her shoulders to keep her steady.

"Easy, you almost fell." She blinked, craning up to see the face of the one who caught her. A tall, tanned boy with light blue hair and small black eyes wearing the same uniform she did. Somehow inside it felt that the face was familiar on the other hand she couldn't picture it accurately.

She lightly swatted the hands away and regained her composure. "T-Thank you."

"No problem. I haven't seen your face before, are you new here?" He questioned.

"Yes, I just transferred here today."

"Pleased to meet you; I'm Domon Asuka, you can call me Domon. What's yours?"

"Wakamiya Tsukumo, nice to meet you too."

Domon froze. Wakamiya. Never in his life he would thought he will hear that surname again. It reminded him of an old friend he once had in America that had the same surname, sadly she moved to another country. They've lost contact ever since. Subsequently he moved to Japan and enrolled at Teikoku Academy. Then this kid came along, claiming to have the same surname.

It can't be a coincidence… could it?

"Oi! Domon!" He and Tsubaki turned around and saw a group of boys.

He beamed. "Yo!" the other boy with tanned skin, shoulder length light cyan hair and an eye-patch masking one of his brown eyes tilted his head in confusion.

"Who's the kid?"

"Don't call me a kid! I'm fourteen, you know!" Tsubaki snapped. They jumped at being startled.

"My bad. It's that with your height, we could have mistaken you for someone younger." He apologised. That's true, she may be disguised as a boy it does expose her actual gender's height. And she was a good number of inches shorter than them. "By the way, I'm Sakuma Jirou."

"Guy's got spunk, I give you that," stated the boy with spiky brown hair and the two markings under his blue eyes. He was fairly tall too. "Hi, my name's Genda Koujirou. Sorry for my friend's behaviour."

"I-It's okay." She stuttered. "It's my fault for yelling at you guys."

"Don't worry. I get that all the time!" cried the shortest boy with bird-shaped brown hair, orange and blue markings on his face wearing an orange scarf. "I'm Doumen Shuuichirou, nice to meet you!"

The final boy had shoulder length spiky, pale dusty rose hair and red-orange eyes. He smirked. "Don't mind him, he's like that. Hello, the name's Henmi Wataru."

Tsubaki nodded. "Nice to meet you all too, I'm Wakamiya Tsukumo."

"Now that introductions are over, will it be okay if I tell you guys that we will be late for school?" Domon interjected. They looked at each other in horror.

"We're late!"

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It took time nonetheless Tsubaki was able to familiarise herself with the academy. The academy was quite strict, especially with conditions similar to study and attendance. She wasn't surprised if the security was tight; every now and then at least one or two security guards will patrol the campus grounds during the day. If you were caught doing anything that breaches the academy's criteria you will be sent to the chairman's secretary in a heartbeat.

Much to her amazement those boys she met that morning were members of the Soccer team! So it appears she will be seeing them more often than she expected to. Still she hasn't told them she was on official member yet.

Meanwhile the bell rang for dismissal and students were filing out of their classrooms.

"Henmi!"

Tsubaki watched as said teen stopped in his tracks when he was called and turns around as a tall, tanned boy with shoulder length dreadlock brown hair walked to them. "Hey Jimon!" Henmi greeted him.

"Hey yourself," he looked at Tsubaki. "Who's this?"

"My name's Wakamiya Tsukumo, please to meet you."

"Jimon Daiki, pleased to meet you too. At any rate Henmi, the Commander instructed all regulars to assemble on the field."

Henmi blinked. "What? It couldn't be told over the PA system? And does Kidou–san know?"

"Don't know. It was a last minute decision for all I know and yes he does."

"Good grief! It can't be helped. Let's go." He turned to Tsubaki. "Will you be fine by yourself?"

"Y-Yeah, good luck with whatever you're doing." She said.

They were starting to leave when Jimon stopped. "Almost forgot, you were meant to come too."

"E-Excuse me?"

"Him too?" asked Henmi. Jimon sighed.

"Explanations later, come on we're late."

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The large steel door slides opened as Tsubaki, Henmi and Jimon went in to the spacious office. A desk was located at the far end where three people, two which Tsubaki recognised, are seen talking. The third person had dreadlock brown hair in a lighter shade compared to Jimon's wearing a pair of blue and white goggles that covered his eyes and a red cape over his soccer uniform.

"Kidou-san! Sorry we're late!" Henmi exclaimed.

Kidou shook his head. "No, you're on time."

Genda smiled. "Hey, Wakamiya." He was dressed in the goalkeeper uniform which consisted of a turtleneck green shirt under a long-sleeved orange jersey with dark brown streaks, a white insignia in placement of the red one, purple gloves, brown socks and purple cleats.

"Hey." she locked eye contact with the man who sat at the desk. Kageyama grinned.

"You came."

"If it was an order from you, I had little choice."

"The Commander and Wakamiya are speaking awfully casually to each other," Jimon remarked.

"Think they got some sort of relation?" wondered Genda.

"Seems that way."

The next thing she said shocked them immensely. "Otou-sama."

"E-Eh?!"

"You're his son?!" Henmi shouted. He was doubly flabbergasted; never understanding that someone like Kageyama would be such a person to take anyone let alone a child under his charge.

Tsubaki mentally cursed. _Way to go for not keeping a tight lid on it, Tsubaki. Oh well, they would've found out sooner or later._ "I am. What's wrong with that?"

There was a quick pause up to Kidou breaking it by glancing at Kageyama with a questioning gaze. "What's the meaning of this?" he demanded.

"I was going to tell you myself personally, however it appears you have already found out." Kageyama said.

"You're kidding me..." Jimon muttered in disbelief.

"It's no joke. The reason I've called all of you here is that I've enlisted my son, Wakamiya Tsukumo onto the team."

And to think the first was totally unexpected.

"WHAT?!"

Tsubaki groaned. "Unbelievable."

Kidou agreed. "Commander if you won't mind, is it alright if we do _the usual_?"

The usual? What did he mean by that?

Kageyama nodded. "Go ahead."

"Ano, what's _the usual_?" asked Tsubaki.

"That's right, you don't know. Granted you might be the Commander's son and enlisted by default, you're still a regular and everyone in Teikoku's soccer club who moves up to the regular's position _must_ undergo a trail." Kidou answered.

She gulped nervously. A trail? Oh that's great. It's her first day of school and now she was told to endure a trail? What kind of a school is Teikoku whenever they decide to pull a rabbit out of a hat out of nowhere?

"The rules are simple," Kidou continued. "You will be tested for what position is your strongest point as will the following areas: catch is for Goalkeepers whereas shoot, dribble and block are for Forwards, Midfielders and Defenders. If we see that your skills in your chosen position are adequate, you will pass. If not, better luck next time."

"Don't worry Kidou, I can promise you that my son isn't the type to fail." Kageyama said.

"He's right; I'm not planning to concede defeat." Tsubaki stated.

Kidou smirked. _Interesting._ "So, what's your position?"

"Anything but Goalkeeper is fine by me."

Genda sighed in relief. Everyone knew that there could be only one Goalkeeper in Teikoku Academy's Soccer club and it was him! Genda Koujirou the renowned King of Goalkeepers! There was no way he was to give up his position to anyone who believes they were good as he was.

"Alright! Then we will begin the trial."

"You did remember to bring the uniform I ordered for you, correct?" questioned Kageyama.

"Yes, sir," replied Tsubaki.

"Then go and get changed. Everyone else head to the field."

"Hai!"

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Tsubaki wiped off a bead of sweat that dripped down on the side of her face. She was just as nervous when she first arrived at Teikoku. Now she had to undertake a trial that she didn't seemed to be prepared for. Tsubaki adjusted the collar of her jersey so it wouldn't look too uncanny.

She spun around when she suddenly heard footsteps approach from behind. "You're ready." She nodded.

"Yes, otou-sama." Kageyama smirked and lightly patted her shoulder.

"Remember, this is merely a trial. Win or lose you're still an official member."

"I want to play the best I can."

"Is that so? Fine, get going. They're all waiting for you on the field."

"Hai!" With that Tsubaki sauntered through the corridor, leaving Kageyama with his trademark grin plastered on his face. Eventually her cleats made contact with the fake grass that created the field. Her heartbeat rate increased in sync with her rigid breathing, making her on the verge on fainting from anxiety.

She swallowed hard, attempting to calm down. _It's alright, you can do this._

"You're here." Kidou stated the second she entered the field. She realised that he had a red band wrapped around his upper left arm on the jersey sleeve. "I know who you are, however you don't know me. I'm Kidou Yuuto, captain of Teikoku's Soccer club."

"Thank you for letting me participate in the trial."

"Yeah. Let's start shall we?"

"Understood."

**Trial Formation:**

[FW] Jimon Daiki – Sakuma Jirou

[MF] Kidou Yuuto – Doumen Shuuichirou

[DF] Narukami Kenya – Gojou Masaru

[GK] Genda Koujirou

Then Tsubaki noticed something.

"Hold on!" she spoke loudly. "You're not using your full team! Why?"

"It wouldn't be fair to have eleven against one now would it?" Kidou countered.

"You… have a point." Tsubaki deadpanned.

The trial began when the referee blew an ear-piercing sound from the whistle.

Tsubaki charged forward with the ball in possession, until she spotted Narukami intercepting her with a slide tackle. He had spiky greyish-purple hair and teal eyes wearing a set of black headphones; resting above his eyes were two dot marks. Acting fast, she secured the ball between her feet and dodged the tackle by leaping to the side.

On the other side, Kidou was impressed by the display. _Not bad. He's aware at whenever someone is trying to steal the ball off him. In that case._ "Do it!" he shouted.

Gojou – the guy with pale skin, brown hair that had the additional curled bang and glasses covering his eyes, ran ahead in response. He marked Tsubaki, allowing Doumen to advance rearward and steal the ball. She cursed.

"Kuso…" she turned around and chased Doumen, the latter sending a flying pass to Sakuma before she caught up. The cyan-haired Forward grinned then dashed ahead. _They're good. I probably should up my game._ Tsubaki then ran into his direction.

She clicked her fingers; a vibrant dark fog surrounded her and Sakuma. Tsubaki smiled at him then her body was gradually engulfed by the fog.

"What the-?!" he jumped when a groan echoed and the fog that took Tsubaki's body changed to an image of the grim reaper.

"**Death Phantom!**"

Sakuma froze in surprise as the image flew through him, its hands gripping onto the scythe and brought it down with a slash. He collapsed to his knees and panted just as the image turned back into Tsubaki with the ball returned to her possession. She grinned. "Didn't expect that now, did you?"

"I didn't," Jimon looked at Kidou. "Did you?"

"Somewhat." He answered. _He is the Commander's son therefore there was the possibility of him having a technique or two up his sleeve. _Kidou ran towards Tsubaki as she draws up to the goal.

She saw his movements in trying to prevent her from scoring. In order to elude him, she retraced hers to find a better route. When she did she sees Narukami and Doumen blocking either side of her. Then Kidou performed a slide tackle, knocking her to the ground as he took the ball off her.

"Ow… that hurt." Tsubaki complained, staggering to her feet. _So this is why Teikoku's famous. I admit, their definitely good._

Kidou turned around and snickered slightly. "Ready to give up?"

"Not yet!" She launched at him, striving to land a kick at the ball he had.

"Kidou!" His hidden eyes met Jimon's as the other ran behind him. He nodded and kicked it back to Jimon.

"A back pass? He's smarter than I thought." Tsubaki apprehended her current action to go after Jimon. He quickly noticed her and increased his speed._ I gotta keep up!_ She followed him until he reached close to the goal. "That's it!" she darted faster where she was inches near Jimon and shoved him with a shoulder charge to snatch the ball.

Jimon growled. "Damn… Genda!"

"I know!"

Tsubaki kicked the ball in to the air and jumped at the same time then spins it. A vibrant series of light particles engulfed it as it constantly spun in a circle rotation. When completed, she kicked it. "**Starlight Buster!**" it was sent straight towards the goal.

"Oh no you don't!" Genda shouted. He jumped with his right hand out curled in a fist. "**Power Shield!**" he punched the ground which emitted a massive shock wave that enfolded the goal.

_Get in…_ The ball accelerated but the shock wave was too immense and deflected it, making the ball bounce off the crossbar. Tsubaki landed on the ground panting in exhaustion when the referee blew the whistle. Genda grinned in triumph.

"Close but no cigar."

"You're no ordinary goalkeeper."

"They call me the King of Goalkeepers for nothing."

"I see. I'll be careful around you now on."

The whistle was blown again, signalling the end of the trial as it only ran for fifteen minutes rather than the usual length. Tsubaki sighed. "Thank kami-sama, it's over."

"Wakamiya?"

She looked puzzled at Kidou as he walked to her. "Yes?" she blinked when he held out his hand.

"Congratulations, you're on the team."

"You… you mean it?"

"I wouldn't have if I didn't see the potential in you when you were playing now, would I?"

"What Kidou was saying is that he was looking at the skills you had that could be a possible assistance for the team." Sakuma said.

"I-I knew that," she spluttered.

"So, will you still take the opportunity to join?"

"Does it look like I have a choice?"

He shrugged. "Nope."

The rest of the team joined in to congratulate Tsubaki on her initiation as a new member of the team. She smiled as she felt them welcome her with open arms; it's been ages since she last had this sensation and to feel it once more made it better.

And she will strive to keep it that way no matter what the cost.

* * *

**Maki:** Well that's it! End of chapter 2. Again, I apologise for the lateness but I hope I fulfilled your enjoyment in reading this new chapter. Farewell and I will see you all in the next chapter.


	3. Past Memories

**Maki:** Hey guys, sorry for the long wait but here's chapter 3! However, I have noticed something out of place – is the lack of support for this fanfic. Look I know the original series of Inazuma Eleven is not that popular now but I find it unfair that an author who is dedicating their whole being to their story is receiving very little support. No! I am not forcing you to review, it's optional but I would appreciate it if a few people or so would take their time to realise why we authors care about our fanfics so much, mine included. Other than that, please enjoy this short but sweet chapter.

**WARNINGS:** Alternate Universe, Non-Canon, OCs, OOCness, Mild violence, cursing and dark themes. Don't like? Don't read!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inazuma Eleven. All rights are the property of Level-5 and Akihiro Hino. I only own my OCs and the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Past Memories**

_It was a nice warm day in a city which dwelled somewhere in America, one of the biggest countries in the world. And everyone was out having a great time… well, not exactly everyone._

_At a local park, a young girl no more than eight years old sat under a tree with the said tree expanded its leaf-covered branches over her and provided enough shade to block out the sunlight. She was curled into a fetal position as her head rested on her knees; dark lavender and cerulean bangs framing her pale face and amethyst eyes that were swollen from crying._

_The girl looked up, taking a glimpse at a small group of children, each of them roughly her age, playing a game of soccer in the distance. She glared, the sensation of jealously tingled in her._

_Why? Why did it have to be her designated as a victim of domestic abuse when nobody pays any attention to the problems surrounding her and her family? It was unfair and she hated it._

_It hurts so badly that she sometimes wished that she would've died..._

"_Heads up!"_

_She jerked as the sight of a soccer ball was flung in her direction and dove out of the way the second it met the tree at a fast pace and dropped onto the ground._

"_Excuse me!" she turned around, facing a boy with light tanned skin, black eyes and brown hair swept to the side. He smiled. "Can you give that ball back?" he gestured a finger to the ball at her feet._

_Following the boy's gaze towards the ball, she hesitated. She didn't know what to do. Will she either a) ignore them and walk away or b) hand the ball back like she was requested._

"_It's okay!" exclaimed the boy's female friend who had greenish-brown hair and dark eyes. A pink hairclip held back her hair on the left. She somewhat knew the other girl was consumed by trouble so she assumed it be best to add a bit of encouragement to help. "There's no need to worry."_

"_Yeah! What she said!" agreed the other boy who's skin was more tanned compared to the other with olive dreadlock hair wrapped in a low braid and black eyes wearing a blue forehead bandana._

_Twin heliotrope orbs widen in surprise. They were actually nice to her. But… were they merely pretending or was it all real? She shook her head and decided by picking up the ball. Facing the first boy, she gulped then kicked the ball to him with all her might and he successfully grabbed it._

"_Hey, thanks a lot. You know that was actually a good kick, do you play soccer?" he asked._

_She remained silent, hesitant in what way to respond. He blinked in confusion._

"_What's wrong?"_

"_No, nothing's wrong. I'll be going." She started to leave._

"_Wait!"_

_She swivelled her head back. "What do you want?"_

_He rubbed the back of his neck. "Listen, my friends and I have been looking for someone to join us. So I was wondering if you could…"_

"_Join you? Like that will happen, I don't know how to play."_

"_Then I will just have to teach you. That is, if you want me to. My friends will as well."_

"… _If you insist."_

"_Great! My name's Kazuya Ichinose, you?"_

"_Tsubaki. Tsubaki Wakamiya."_

"_Well, nice to meet you Tsubaki!"_

"_Y-Yeah, of course."_

Tsubaki sighed as the memory she recalled was wiped from her mind due to the teacher at the front of the classroom speaking of the topic they were discussing. It's been ages since she last saw the ones that she was able to call her friends seeing that she had none in elementary school in America. When she moved to Japan and went to the orphanage after the freak plane crash that made her loose the only relative she had left, Tsubaki lost communication with them.

Despite the fact she withdrawn herself, she kept on deliberating how they were every now and then and if they forgotten her by now which was more or less a possibility.

On the other side of the classroom Sakuma looked at his fellow teammate, noticing she wasn't really paying attention and was focused on another situation. The cyan-haired Forward was aware that on her initiation in the Soccer club, she was seemingly a little edgy. Okay so the first week of training for new members was a nerve-wrecking yet Tsubaki was able to gradually overcome that; so why was this any different?

"Sakuma-kun?" the voice broke him out of his thoughts, making him lock eye contact with the teacher.

"Yes sensei?"

"Can you answer the question that's written on the blackboard, please?" she asked in a polite tone.

Rising from his seat, his lips tugged into an honest smile. "Alright," Sakuma took the chalk given to him and moved to the blackboard where he wrote down his answer. He winced at the sound of giggling and gushing behind his back.

Oh how can he not forget the annoying fangirls?

He'd understood beforehand that joining the Teikoku Soccer club, which was famous for dominating the soccer world by storm, raises certain… issues for its players, the fangirls for example. Although most will stay relatively calm and don't obsess over them, there are some out there that they had to watch out for.

Sakuma pushed it aside as he lowered the chalk in his hand. He fiddled it with his fingers when the teacher walked to him and inspect the answer.

"Mm-hmm excellent. Good answer like always Sakuma-kun." She praised.

He bowed. "Thank you sensei."

"Now-" Unfortunately the bell rang as soon as the teacher was prepared to move on. "Wow that time already? Dismissed. Remember to do the homework on the board."

As all the students rose to gather their belongings, Sakuma strode to Tsubaki who was filing her handouts away. "Wakamiya?" the dual-haired Midfielder jumped.

"What?"

"You were distracted in class, are you feeling sick or anything?" Sakuma asked.

"Me? Sick? N-No I'm fine, nothing's wrong. See you later."

"Yeah. Goodbye." She leaves the classroom.

That went well. Then again, Tsubaki was definitely hiding something that needs a thorough investigation.

* * *

Later into the lunch hour Tsubaki found herself alone on the academy's roof. It was one of those rare days when the team didn't have practice as their coach was currently absent at the moment. So the players were free to do whatever they want in the duration of lunch; but she didn't really felt like to as she had stuff on her mind and needed somewhere privately to think.

Thankfully barely anyone goes to the roof, so it was one of the few good choices she had.

Leaning against the wall that was the closest to the door with hands stuffed in her pockets, Tsubaki stared blankly at the steel-covered floor.

She couldn't understand but deep inside she was hurt. Hurt by a vexing pain that wouldn't leave her.

What was it that caused her to be this way? Surely it wasn't psychical otherwise she would have felt it in the first place. Then the other idea on what it could be was an emotional pain.

An emotional pain leaving deep scars in her heart, constantly reminding her of the dreadful past she'd wished to forget.

"_Tsubaki."_

Tsubaki gasped. Her mind was visualising a young woman in her mid-twenties with near waist-length dark hair whereas her most of her body was surrounded by a blinding light. The part not blocked was the lower half of her face were the mouth is formed into a gentle smile.

"Okaa-san…" she whispered, eyes simmering with fresh tears.

She remembered the freak accident she and her mother were involved very well. It happened shortly after the incident that took her father however Tsubaki didn't care; he was abusive so it was his fault that triggered him his own demise. The one person she'd ever cared about was her mother because she still had a heart once her father vanished from the face of the world.

But that all ended when they moved to her father's home country, the plane lost control and had to make an emergency landing…

A chill trailed down her spine as she shuddered at the thought. It was too awful to reminisce on and felt sick to the pit of her stomach every time it occurred.

She was ready to leave and head down when a familiar person reach the roof from the stairs. She stopped. "Genda?"

The King of Goalkeepers greeted her with a hand gesture. "Hey yourself. Why are you up here?"

Tsubaki shrugged. "Nothing that important."

"I see…" she was going to descend the stairs the instant an idea struck Genda. "Wait! We need to-" he gripped a hand around her left wrist. Tsubaki froze.

Bad move.

"Let go!" Tsubaki screamed as she threw a fist to his face.

Shocked, Genda stepped aside to avoid the punch. Conversely he slipped on the step behind him, forcing him to release the latter as his back slammed against the railing. The other teen was thrown aside; her head hitting the nearest wall hard then slumped to the floor. Genda groaned, rubbing his head as he regained his composure.

"Kuso, Wakamiya!" he bolted to the fallen Tsubaki and bends on his knees. Prior to getting a hold of the disguised girl by her shoulders, her eyes flung wide open in panic.

"I said – let go!" she managed to shove him roughly, causing Genda to almost topple over if he hadn't held his balance.

"Wakamiya, listen: it's me, Genda Koujirou, your teammate!"

Somehow his words were able to hit her like an arrow to a heart and Tsubaki slowly returned to her senses. "Genda?"

Said Goalkeeper nodded. "Yeah, it's me."

Tsubaki attempted to speak unfortunately it came out in a violent cough followed by another. Immediately recognising what it was she clamped her mouth shut with both hands, her eyes scrunching shut in the process as the coughing continued.

"Wakamiya!" she heard a familiar voice call her but her vision was too hazy, preventing her from seeing the person's face.

The pain was too much and she passed out.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Genda couldn't understand. No, scratch that he was downright confused. Everything was happening so fast at once that time seemed to slip away from him.

Firstly their Commander, Kageyama, had to cancel practice due to him having to go somewhere. Then he found Tsubaki alone on the academy's roof obviously thinking and found a good opportunity to talk to her as he was pondering about her for a while. Instead she had other plans ahead and almost left when Genda caught her hand which turned on something that freaked her out.

Picking up the limp form in a fireman's hold, he was surprised at how light Tsubaki was. Shaking that aside he darted to the nurse's office, grateful no one is in the hallway he ran through. When he went to the office, the nurse hastily ushered him in in an instant as soon as she noticed Tsubaki's condition and instructed the King of Goalkeepers to rest her on the cot she had in the room.

The nurse examined Tsubaki up to asking Genda what happened. She raised an eyebrow in confusion when he explained yet ignored it and politely ordered him to leave. Not wanting to get into an argument he obeyed despite his inner thoughts wanted him to stay as he was worried for his teammate.

"Genda."

He spun around to meet the hidden eyes of his Captain. "Kidou?"

"What are you doing here?" Kidou asked out of curiosity as to why one of his teammates, especially Genda, was at the nurse's office when he didn't seem sick at all.

"Wakamiya fainted." The brunette simply told him.

"Wakamiya? Is he alright?"

"Sorry, I don't know. The nurse won't tell me. But what I do know is that he did have a pretty nasty coughing fit."

"Alright. By the way, if you're not doing anything, can you come with me? We need to talk about Wakamiya, but privately." The dreadlock-haired Midfielder stated.

Genda blinked in confusion. "Why?"

"Just come."

"Fine."

Eventually Genda ended up following Teikoku's Captain to one of the corridors connected to the training fields. What was it that Kidou needed to speak to him about that was related to Tsubaki? Okay so he had tried in talking to the other teen but she refused to give him an answer. So he'd probably get a good idea from Kidou on what was bothering him earlier.

In order to get what he wanted, he finally popped up the question.

"So, what is it that we need to talk about Kidou?"

"Wait. We still need one more person." He said.

Before he could ask, a set of footsteps reached his ears, making the Goalkeeper turn around; his eyes widen. "Sakuma?"

The cyan-haired Forward nodded. "Hey," then he looked at Kidou. "So what's the big deal?"

"I talked to the Commander a while ago." Their breaths hitched. Whenever Kageyama was mentioned, it meant that the situation was serious. "He told me something disturbing about Wakamiya."

"And?"

"He is not Wakamiya's real father." Kidou replied solemnly. "Wakamiya's biological parents are dead; each under different circumstances."

Genda gasped. "Then that means–"

"Yeah, he's an orphan. The Commander is actually his adoptive father."

Sakuma frowned sympathetically. "I see… does Wakamiya know?"

Kidou nodded. "Yes. It took him a while to overcome the fact he lost his parents, and he's okay with it now. Genda."

"Yes?" said brunette questioned.

"You remember how you said that Wakamiya had a coughing fit earlier?"

"What of it?"

"Well, it's quite normal for him. It's a symptom for a disease."

That's when it hit. And it hit hard.

"WHAT?!" They shouted in unison.

"Kidou! Tell me that's a lie!" Sakuma exclaimed angrily, his hands balled into fists. He couldn't believe it. The Commander allowed someone with a condition like that on the team? That's absurd! The goggle-wearing Captain shook his head.

"Unfortunately, it's not."

"But why?" Genda muttered. He was just as mad as Sakuma, now he wanted so badly to question Kageyama for his shameful action.

"I have no idea. However, I will try and talk to him again for his reasons that made him do this."

Sakuma nodded. "Please do."

"Don't worry, I am. In the meantime we must keep this to ourselves as it will reduce less stress on the team, Wakamiya especially."

"Yeah."

* * *

**Maki:** Well, that's that for now. I apologise again for the wait but I have been kept pretty busy lately due to work and studies at the same time and it's no fun at all. Alright then see you all in the next chapter, bye!


	4. Of Pain and Solitude

**Maki:** Hey guys, uh sorry for the extremely long wait but chapter 4 is finally up and ready for you lot to read. Just be aware though this is a very lengthy one since it will probably be the second last chapter before Tsubaki heads off to Raimon. Please do enjoy reading and leaving a review or two would be a nice treat as well :3

**WARNINGS:** Alternate Universe, Non-Canon, OCs, OOCness, Mild violence, cursing and dark themes. Don't like? Don't read!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inazuma Eleven. All rights are the property of Level-5 and Akihiro Hino. I only own my OCs and the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Of Pain and Solitude**

Tsubaki had woken up the instant consciousness came back, signalling her to get up. Her mouth emitted a pained groan as she gradually pulled her upper body away from a soft surface. Once up she grasped her head with a hand covering one of her eyes, a bead of sweat rolled down her face on the opposite side.

"Ite ~" removing her hand, Tsubaki gazed at the white ceiling that towered over her. "What in the world happened?"

All of a sudden she went into a flashback that pictured her standing on the roof of Teikoku Academy. "That's right, I was…" she trailed off as the scene moved forward to someone walking on.

"_Genda?"_ she imaged herself in the flashback speaking with a confusing expression.

Tsubaki saw the brunette greet her flashback-self with a hand gesture. "_Hey yourself. What are you doing up here?"_

Her flashback-self shrugged. _"Nothing that important."_

She gasped at the realisation. "Now I remember. Damn it! I'm so stupid."

A set of footsteps reached her ears, making her turn around to see a woman with a white doctor's coat that covered most of her attire move to the sole desk in the room and placed a few papers on it. When she did, the woman felt that somebody was watching her then spun on her heels in a clockwise rotation.

"Oh, thank kami-sama you're awake!" she exclaimed happily.

The latter nodded wearily. "Y-Yeah, I guess."

"Well, don't worry." She opened one of the draws to grab something, shutting it when she did. Next she went to the cot and held out the object to Tsubaki who winced at the sight of it – a red rounded flask with a twistable white lid. Inside it held a number of small sized tablets. "I thought you might need this."

"Where did you get it?" Tsubaki asked.

"Kageyama-san came by to drop it off after he heard that you fainted and wanted me to give it to you." She answered.

"Did he-"

The woman bowed her head, several bangs framing her eyes. "Yes."

"Is that so?" she took the flask. "Arigatou gozaimasu sensei."

The woman shook her hand hastily. "N-No, please call me Tanaka-san. I'm the academy's nurse after all."

"Okay. Thanks again, Tanaka-san." Tsubaki said, opening the lid and poured out two tablets which landed in her free hand.

"No worries, glad that you're feeling better Wakamiya-kun." Tanaka-san replied.

Tsubaki nodded then plopped the tablets in her mouth, swallowing them after chewing a few times. Tanaka-san smiled until she spoke, "Talk to me whenever you're ready to go."

"Alright."

Eventually she lets Tsubaki go once the younger was able to recover and walked out of the office, waving goodbye to Tanaka-san in the process. While heading down the hallway, Tsubaki stuffs the flask in one of her pockets that she hoped wouldn't be noticed by someone or a teammate for that matter.

She was wary that she was running late for class since the lunch period ended some time ago; so she quickened her pace though avoided going any faster as running in the halls was banned.

Then...

"Ack!" Her face smack-dabbed into someone's back, causing that person to stumble forward as she did the same thing backwards.

"Hey! Watch where your-" the person turned around, only his eyes widen at the sight of who he'd ran into. "Wakamiya?"

"J-Jimon?" Tsubaki stuttered, rubbing her sore nose.

"That's me." The dreadlock-haired Forward said. He raised a questioning eyebrow. "Why are you here?"

"Um… err… I lost track of time?" she asked.

"Well, your fifteen minutes late; classes have already started." Jimon answered, gesturing a thumb to the clock hanging on the wall.

"I know that… by the way, have you seen Genda?"

He nodded. "Last time I checked he was with Sakuma. Did something happen?"

"Y-Yeah, a little." Tsubaki replied.

"Then get going. You don't want to be late, do you?"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" That said, she ran off.

"No running in the halls!" Jimon sighed in defeat, he was aware that Tsubaki wouldn't make it if she hadn't run in the first place. He shrugged. "Can't be helped."

_But…_ Jimon glanced at the retreating Midfielder, noticing some sort of container held in her pants pocket. _What in the world is that?_

* * *

That night, Tsubaki was at home doing her homework in her room. However unlike the day before she began school, she had her hair untied now resting against her shoulder blades. She was wearing a pair of pyjamas that consisted of a blue-green top and blue pants that had a white star image imprinted; tightly wrapped around her left wrist was a set of bandages.

In the end she wasn't able to find Genda and properly apologise to him for the incident that occurred between them. So she planned on doing it the next day when she could see him… hopefully.

Placing the pen down, she stood then went to her bed which was near the window against the wall opposite that had her desk and wardrobe. Tsubaki flopped on her bed, burying her face into her pillow.

Why was everything so difficult? She couldn't understand.

That's when there was a knock on the door; she sat up. "It's open." The door was pushed open with a squeak and Eri stepped into the room. "Eri? I thought you went home already."

"I wanted to say goodbye but you were too busy with homework." The older female said.

"I see… or was it to check on me?"

Eri was slightly taken aback. "Eh?"

"Normally you would immediately go hysterical if you found out that something happened to me." Tsubaki stated with a stern look. "I'm not a child! You have to face the fact that you can't treat me like one anymore!"

"I was merely concerned for your safety!" Eri countered.

"So what? If my disease were to affect me, I can handle it myself. Isn't that what you call "being independent"?"

"Still-"

"Still it's better if you didn't oversee my problems all the time. It's not yours to deal with…" Tsubaki sighed. "I'm sorry Eri, I wasn't thinking straight."

Said woman shook her head apologetically. "No worries. You would often feel stressed whenever you're disease comes into effect. I was wrong. I shouldn't have come in. I know you're a strong girl. It's that I was-"

"Daijoubu, we both made our own mistakes. What's done is done, right?" the dual-haired Midfielder asked, a crooked smile plastered on her face.

"Well then, I might as well-"

"Wait a minute, Eri. Can I ask you something?"

"Hai?"

"Why… why haven't you told me anything about your family or you personally?"

Eri winced. Damn. She wished Tsubaki didn't say that. "Listen Tsubaki, there are some things that are meant to be kept hidden for the rest of your life. No questions asked."

"Okay." Tsubaki muttered. The latter walked over and patted her shoulder affectionately.

"You will find out one day. There's no need to worry since you have other stuff to think of already."

Finally, Eri leaves the mansion after saying goodbye to Tsubaki properly; the other's hand subconsciously gripping her bandaged wrist when she did.

* * *

**A day later**

"A practice match?"

Kidou nodded. "Yeah, the Commander was the one who decided on it."

The team members looked at each other. Half were confused, probably wondering which school they were going against this time whereas the other half seemed pretty excited since they haven't had a practice match in a while. That's when Henmi spoke. "Which school is it, Kidou-san?"

"Sengoku Igajima. The match is in two weeks." He answered simply.

"Think we'll get enough practice before then?" Narukami asked.

"And to be Sengoku Igajima to boot, they're obviously a strong group. I doubt the Commander set this up on purpose," added Sakiyama Shuuji. He had brass hair in a golden hue with his mouth and nose covered by a white mask. He also had the collar of his jersey pulled upwards.

"Guess not," said Oono Densuke. He was the only giant Defender of the team with a muscular build and grey hair wearing a pair of goggles similar to Kidou.

Tsubaki looked at Domon. "Say Domon, what is Sengoku Igajima like?" she whispered.

"They're from a school of ninjas where most of them are descendants of ninjas themselves. A lot of people even said they could even match Teikoku's level." Domon whispered back.

"Really?"

"What are you two talking about?" Banjou Kazumichi questioned firmly. He had shoulder length brown hair, an unusual nose and thick brown lips.

"N-Nothing." They hastily responded in unison.

"Right, then we will begin practice!"

"Yeah!"

Practice began with simple coordination drills where Kidou ordered everyone minus Genda to move at certain paces to make their passes connect with each other. When that was completed with a time of ten or fifteen minutes max, they were then instructed to work on their hissatsu techniques.

However Kidou noticed something wrong the second it commenced. Scanning his eyes around the training field, he quickly spotted Tsubaki jumping over Domon when he attempted to tackle her with Killer Slide then passes the ball to Henmi who passed it to Jimon.

"Kidou, what's the matter?" Teikoku's Captain whipped his head to see Sakuma walk to him. "Is it Wakamiya?"

"Yeah. I can't seem to shake the feeling off that something has to do with him."

They watched as Narukami grabbed the ball next prior to realising Tsubaki was right behind him in position for her signature offence technique – Death Phantom. When she actuated it, causing Narukami to collapse on the ground, Kidou immediately recognised what the issue was.

"I understand the problem now."

Sakuma smirked. "Should we?"

"Wakamiya!" Kidou called Tsubaki over to the bleachers as soon as she assisted Narukami by pulling him off the ground.

"What is it?"

"I want you to try a new hissatsu technique."

Tsubaki blinked owlishly, clearly not comprehending on what he meant. "Huh?"

"Kidou, are you sure?" Jimon questioned.

"Yes. So far we already know you have two techniques. That's not enough; you can't just rely on your own ones. You have to work with your teammates. In other words-"

"A combination hissatsu." Sakuma finished.

"A combination hissatsu?" she repeated.

"Exactly." Kidou said. "Actually, why don't we demonstrate?"

"Huh?"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X- X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Tsubaki sat on the bleachers along with the members who didn't contribute in using combination hissatsus. As much as he was eager to take the techniques, Genda was politely asked to stay on the side as he did need a break from the recent vigorous training.

While Kidou had a word with the members on the field, Tsubaki casts a nervous glance at the King of Goalkeepers who sat beside her.

"What's wrong?" she jumped, recognising that Genda was staring at her.

"I'm fine." Tsubaki shook her head. _No. Maybe it would be best to tell him._ "Ano Genda, I apologise for the other day. I was being reckless."

"No, it's alright. I didn't realise it put such a strain on you." He replied.

"You have no idea…" she mumbled. Near them, Gojou raised an eyebrow.

"What's going on?"

Henmi simply shrugged. "Who knows?"

At the same time, Kidou smiled in the duration of the brief meeting. "Okay! We will start with Death Zone followed by Twin Boost and Emperor Penguin Number 2, got that?"

"Yeah!"

"Then get into formation!" As they did, he looked at Tsubaki who was observing them carefully. _I hope you keep focus on this._ Kidou smirked when Sakuma, Jimon and Doumen positioned themselves in front of the vacant goal.

"GO!"

On cue Sakuma ran first followed by Jimon and Doumen. He jumped after the other two did before him. Next the three of them spun in the same rotation as they continued to stay in the air. Purple energy links surrounded each of them, forming a triangle shape at the same time the ball was engulfed by a purple aura.

Tsubaki felt a strong force coming from the ball and the players. "This is…!"

"**Death Zone!**"

They descended on the ball then kicked it, sending it to the goal as they back-flipped off it. Tsubaki was amazed at how much power they put into their kicks as the ball hits the net at such speed.

"S-Sugoi…" she muttered. "I hate to admit it, I'm impressed."

The light blue-haired Defender who was sitting behind her and Genda nodded in agreement. "Yeah, although that's not the only combination hissatsu we have."

"Excuse me?"

"Watch, you'll understand what I mean." Domon answered, grinning.

Eventually the ball rolled back to Sakuma when it landed who sent it to Kidou with a back pass. "I see. Sakuma's the key factor in all of this."

"You got that right, but he's not the ace striker." Genda said.

"Then who-" she followed his gaze when he jerked a thumb at Jimon. She gaped. "You got to be kidding me. Him?"

Kidou started dribbling towards the goal this time. He kicked it upwards when Sakuma jumped above him and hits it with a header down to Kidou. "**Twin Boost!**" they shouted. The goggle-wearing Midfielder caught the ball with his foot. A vibrant, fire-like energy surrounded the ball and then was kicked to the goal once more.

Tsubaki smiled. "Interesting."

Finally Jimon joined in, standing on one side adjacent to Sakuma as Kidou stood several inches behind them. Kidou placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled the instant Sakuma and Jimon ran. Then a cluster of penguins emerged from the ground, making Kidou kick the ball again; the penguins surrounding the ball as it flew to Sakuma and Jimon. They kicked it.

"**Emperor Penguin Number 2!**"

It skyrocketed straight into the goal. Tsubaki whistled.

"That's it, huh? The power of a combination hissatsu." She paused. _Why number two? Isn't there supposed to be a number one? Might as well ask to find out._

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Once the demonstration had ended, everyone assembled on the training field.

"Now do you understand why I said you can't rely on your own techniques?" Kidou asked.

"Yes, I do."

He frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Eto Kidou, I realise there's an Emperor Penguin Number 2 and-" she chewed her bottom lip nervously, not knowing what to say. The latter got her meaning and spoke.

"Emperor Penguin Number 1 is a technique that sends searing pain throughout the body with the additional possibility of the bones breaking should it be used two or more times. Emperor Penguin Number 2 was created in order to reduce the stress off the player. Thus a ban was placed to prevent the player from using that technique ever again."

Tsubaki's eyes widen in horror. "No way."

"That's not the only issue." Sakuma said.

"You? Why?"

"Out of all the members of Teikoku Academy, Sakuma is, by far, one of the strongest Forwards we have. And being the sly jerk he is, the Commander thought it was a good idea to let Sakuma use that technique." Genda replied through gritted teeth.

"Genda! Not behind the Commander's back." Sakiyama scolded. The brunette Goalkeeper shook his head.

"Sorry, I take that back."

"Otou-sama…" Tsubaki muttered.

There was a brief pause until the cyan-haired Forward opened his mouth again. "However, that's not all."

"Sakuma…!" Genda protested.

"My secret's already been exposed. You should at least tell Wakamiya yours." He stated.

"There's more?" the dual-haired Midfielder wondered as she was growing concerned.

"Beast Fang, it's another forbidden technique equivalent to Emperor Penguin Number 1."

Tsubaki bowed her head remorsefully as she tried to take the information in. "I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"You wouldn't have unless we told you. It's a good thing you did actually." Jimon said, clapping a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "All we're doing is to let Sakuma and Genda avoid from using those techniques so they wouldn't hurt themselves."

Domon rubbed his nose sheepishly. "Jimon's right you know. You're not the only one here who feels bad about it."

Henmi snorted. "As stupid as it sounds, I agree."

"Did you just call me an idiot?!"

"I didn't say you were. It's what you said was stupid!"

Banjou face palmed. "Idiots." They glared at him.

"What did you say?!"

There was a collective sound of groans from the other club members, minus Tsubaki, who didn't get involved in the uprising argument.

"Does this happen all the time?" she questioned in a slightly confused tone of voice.

"Not technically. It only does on rare occasions when they get out of character." Doumen answered with an amused grin. Kidou cleared his throat to silence everyone.

"Right we'll call it a day. Remember to do plenty of training until the day of the practice match. And Wakamiya, I want you to use this time to create a suitable combination hissatsu that you can do, got that?"

Tsubaki nodded. "Understood."

He smiled. "You're free to go."

* * *

Genda slumped on one of the benches in the changing room, placing a hand on his head. "That went well."

"Tell me about it," said Sakuma as he stared at his locker. Henmi looked at him.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm feeling guilty for not telling Wakamiya about the forbidden techniques we have."

"Well, it's better saying it sooner rather than later. Otherwise he will never have found out."

"Not only that, Wakamiya has to create a combination hissatsu before the practice match with Sengoku Igajima and to do that he's in need of a partner or more." Oono recalled the moment until practice ended. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

Narukami shook his head. "I don't know, it's been two months and he's still fairly new to the team. Speaking of which, where did he go?"

"Now you mention it, he's not here." Gojou responded, realising that Tsubaki wasn't present in the room.

Domon shrugged. "My guess is that Wakamiya needs to clear his head after what we told him. He was pretty disturbed by it, remember?"

"Domon has a point. It's best we leave him alone for the meantime until he calms down." Jimon added. They all nodded in agreement.

"Yeah."

* * *

Tsubaki wipes a bead of sweat off her forehead as she left the girls bathroom that was near the main field fully changed in the normal boys school uniform. "Thank kami-sama that girls barely come here during school hours," she said while walking down the corridor.

Continuing her way through the corridor, she made a turn into another which connected to the exit. However as she was ready to go, Tsubaki heard something coming from the corridor on the right which lead straight to Kageyama's office. It was faint but it definitely sounded like people talking.

Retracing her steps, she went into the other corridor then stopped inches away from the giant steel door which provided as a barrier between her and the office. But she didn't need to as she could clearly hear the conversation.

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Kidou had a lot on his mind when practice ended for the day. Fortunately none of his teammates were in the area which made it easier for him to think properly.

Surely he had easily resolved numerous issues revolving him and his team before, however this one was different.

And how was it different you may ask? Well, for starters it wasn't often that the Teikoku Soccer Club gains a new member for the team. Truthfully they barely did; the line-up had always stayed the same, save for the times when the older students had to graduate.

Next was why did Kageyama put someone like Wakamiya on the team when he knew very well that it could risk Wakamiya's health? Kidou may be the Captain of a prestigious team that mainly focuses on winning then again he wasn't completely stupid to not look out for his own teammates like most people would think.

To him that was a cowardly move.

Thanks to Wakamiya now being on the team, Kidou had a suspicious feeling that Kageyama was up to something. Despite that the former was his coach not to mention he was ordered to obey his rules, the goggle-wearing Captain needed to have a word with him since what he has been wondering lately is a serious problem.

He snorted then decided to walk to Kageyama's office, which he founded in no time flat. The steel door before him opens followed by him stepping inside to meet the face of the man Kidou had been looking for.

Kageyama smirked as soon as he saw Kidou walked in. "Kidou, what a pleasant surprise."

"Why did you do it?"

"Hmm? Do what?"

"Why did you allow Wakamiya on the team when you're clearly aware that there's a chance of him harming himself?"

"It doesn't matter."

Kidou's eyes widen in utter shock, not believing what he just heard. "What?"

"You heard me. It doesn't matter. What happens between my son and I is none of your concern." Kageyama answered.

"Then why did you tell me about his parents and condition in the first place? You must have a reason for saying that."

"Does it look like I have one? If I did, you would've easily figured it out some time ago."

Kidou's hand clenched into a fist; damn it… he did had a point there.

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Tsubaki's eyes narrowed dangerously as she continued to overhear the two that were talking behind her back. Of all people, why her? Why did she have to be the centre of attention in most discussions? Especially ones when her father was involved?

Deciding that enough was enough, she ran through the door the second it opened. "ENOUGH!" she exclaimed, managing to grab both occupant's attention. Kidou tried to make an attempt into making her go back outside.

"Wakamiya, why are you-"

"Urasai, Kidou!" she snapped then glanced at Kageyama with a sharp glare. "Why did you tell him _that_ without my permission?"

He smirked. "Both you and Kidou are similar to each other, that's why I told him. Of course you were too distracted to speak to me."

Kidou raised a questioning eyebrow, not sure if he understood what Kageyama said. _Wakamiya and I are similar to each other? What does that mean?_

"Whatever. You may be my father, but that doesn't give you the right to talk about me behind my back. Just don't do it again, you hear me? Or I'll make you regret it."

Tsubaki turned around and stormed out of the office in frustration. Once she was gone, Kidou shifts his gaze back to Kageyama who had his signature smirk on again. "Commander-"

"I have nothing to say to you anymore. Leave."

It wasn't a request, it was a demand. And when the demand is set they have little choice but to comply with his rules. Without a word Kidou bowed and leaves the office.

* * *

After leaving the office, Kidou was left with over a million unanswered questions. However the one he was most concerned about was what Kageyama said not long ago. _I still don't get it, what does the Commander mean by me and Wakamiya being similar to each other? Sure he did tell me about Wakamiya's condition yet why does it feel like I'm missing something?_

That's when he noted himself to find Tsubaki who had apparently left the office in such a hurry as she may be the one to hold answers to his questions.

Following a few minutes of searching the stadium, Kidou eventually found her in the end. She was standing in the centre of the main training field with her back to him and hands clenched into shaky fists. The faint quivering of Tsubaki's body and rigid breathing didn't fool him one bit. Kidou understood that she was upset and enraged.

Her anger wasn't directed at him but at her own father. She had a right to be angry. Kageyama said something without her consent which is actually considered to be illegal depending on the situation. That gave her a good reason to vent her anger at him.

"Wakamiya." He said.

Somehow her breathing slowed down and she turned around. Her eyes were swimming with fresh tears, hinting that she was on the verge of crying but quickly wiped them away. "What do you want?" she asked.

"I apologise, I didn't mean to question you or your past."

Tsubaki shook her head. "It's not your fault. I'm sorry for snapping at you."

Kidou smiled softly but the smile disappeared fairly quickly when he recalled Kageyama's words. "Wakamiya, what did the Commander say about us being similar?"

"… Guess I should tell you, now that you found out. Actually, he did mention you to me several times before I came to the academy; but it wasn't that much." She answered.

The pair then moved to sit on the bleachers. Tsubaki began to explain how she started playing soccer, in which she surprised Kidou by revealing that she was half-Japanese with her other nationality was American and that she was originally from America. But that wasn't the case. It turned out that Tsubaki was bullied most of her time during elementary school and she was this close to isolation if it weren't for one person who stepped in to change it all.

She told Kidou that that person, who was in fact a boy around her age, and his friends were the first people to ever teach her how to play soccer. However a fire accident occurred later on one day that hospitalised both Tsubaki and her mother yet it was that accident that took her biological father's life away. Her teeth gritted in anger when she mentioned it, remembering the pain he caused her all those years.

"Wakamiya? Are you alright?" Kidou asked, noticing her sudden change of expression.

She shook her head. "I-I'm fine, don't worry…" Tsubaki took a deep breath so she can continue. "Anyways, thanks to that accident I was hospitalised for two weeks due to aggravated injuries. Okaa-san survived it too yet her injuries weren't that bad compared to mine. It was after I got discharged from the hospital, she decided that we should move to Japan. I was reluctant at first since I didn't want to leave my new friends, but I went with her idea in the end. But…"

"But?"

"She died. All of them did! If it weren't for that plane crash she would've…" she choked back a sob at the mere thought of it. "Because I had no living relatives, I was forced to live in an orphanage for a few years."

"That's when the Commander adopted you." Kidou said.

"Hai…" Tsubaki sighed. "There's something else I should tell you."

He tilted his head curiously. "What is it?"

"You understand that I sometimes have my left arm wrapped up by bandages right? Well, there's a reason for that." She stretched out her arm, turning it around so that her palm was facing her and rolled up her sleeve. On her wrist was a fairly old yet nasty scar. "The doctor said it provokes memories; bad ones. That's why I hide it, if I looked at it-"

"You will recall memories of the incident." Kidou finished.

"I might even freak out if someone grabs this wrist." She added, rolling the sleeve back up to hide the scar again.

"I see… I seem to understand you now."

She blinked owlishly. "You do?"

"Yeah. You see, I have a sister named Haruna who is one year younger than I am. Our parents were supposed to return for her birthday. Sadly they were killed in a plane crash similar to the one you lost your mother in. Like you, we were sent to an orphanage but then we had to be separated into different families. I desperately wanted to get Haruna back, so I made a bet with my own stepfather. If I could win the Football Frontier consecutively during my three years of Junior High School then I'll get her back, yet if I lose at least one district match there's the slightest chance of me having to leave my adoptive family."

Tsubaki was shocked by those words. "Kidou, I… I have no idea."

"It's alright, I can handle it. All I have to do is win, nothing else then I will get Haruna back." He replied. "I guess this is why the Commander said we were similar to each other, as we both lost something important."

"Possibly. He also trained me plenty of times before so I'm able to meet his standards."

"If that's the case, then we're very much alike as he did the same to me. It all makes sense now."

"It does…" suddenly her body started shaking again; her vision becoming blurry with tears. She faltered until collapsing into Kidou's arms, surprising the former greatly.

"Wakamiya?!"

Tsubaki's hand grasped his shirt like a lifeline as she sobbed against Kidou's chest. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry."

The goggle-wearing Captain relaxed a bit and patted her head softly. "Daijoubu. Everything will work out in the end. Someday."

Kami-sama, how he wished it would. Then he and Tsubaki wouldn't have to suffer this pain anymore.

* * *

**Maki:** Flippin' finally! This chapter has finally been completed after a quite long hiatus. Of course, this one had been bugging me to no end. Now we can move on to more serious situations such as the upcoming match with Sengoku Igajima in the next chapter. Well, see you until the next chapter everyone!


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